Phillips abbott



(No Model.)

P. ABBOTT. LEAD PENCIL.

No. 248,549. Patented 0G13. 18,1881.

N. PETERS. Phmumegmpmr. wmingm u. c;

NiTED STATES PATENT Ormea.'-

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO JOSEPH REOKENDOBFER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LEAD-PENCIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,549, dated October 18, 1881.

Appiicftuon nieu August 9, issu. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILLIPS A BBor'r, of the city of Brooklyn, State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lead-Pencils, which is fully set forth in the following speciicatiomreference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l shows a vertical section of the said pencil, and Fig. 2 an enlarged section, showing the lead, the outside and the inside tubes, and the lead-holding device; Fig. 3, another forni of lead-holding device.

Prior to my invention various means have been used for holding the lead in pencils of the class in which the lead is movable, and my invention is an improvement in pencils of this class.

In Fig. l, a is an outer tube, and b an inner one, which constitute the handle of the pencil, and c is a spring which is attached to the inner and outer tubes by any suitable well-known attachments, and its effect is to project theinner tube from the outer one at the end opposite the point of thepencil; and dis thelead-holding device, which is the peculiar feature of this invention.

The construction of this pencil is as follows:

The two tubes are so constructed that the inner one slips very freely and easily into the outer one. At the point e in the side of the inner tube, and through a slot therein, I introduce the lead-holding` device d, which is seen enlarged in Fig. 2. This device d is pivoted on the side of the inner tube, as seen at f, Fig. 2, and operates or swings through the slot before mentioned cut in the side of this inner tube. The end of this lea-dholding device d, which is outside ofthe inner tube, runs tapering oft` from the part through the pivot passes until it comes to the surface of the inside wall of the outer tube, as is seen at g, Fig. 2, and it is received into either a hole or some other depression made in the wall of the outer tubeitself, or made in a piece of metal soldered upon the inside of the outside tube.

The inner end of the lead-holding device d, which swings into the inner tube, is bent somewhat in the shape of aletter, L, the arm of the L running toward the point of the pencil, as seen in Figs. l and 2, and in cross-section this arm is made somewhat rounding` in the direc- I tion in which the tube in which it operates is rounding; or, in other words, in the forni of a half-tube, so that it may the better catch and hold the lead. ln the surface of this arm of the L-shaped lead -holding device cl, which comes in contact with the lead, I form little teeth, which are inclined toward the point of the pencil, so that they will readily catch in the lead for holding it. The front edge of this device d may be bent slightly inwardly and made sharp, so that it will catch in and hold the lead without any teeth. 4

I prefer to make the tubes of wood, metal, paper, rubber, or celluloid; but they may be made ot' any suitable material. The lead-holding device I prefer to make of niet-al, preferably hard brass; but it may be made, also, ofother suitable material.l

. The pivoting of the holding device may be made in any suitable manner, either by a regular pivot or by a latch or any other operative joint by which the necessary swinging action of the lead-holding device can be obtained.

The operation of my improved pencil is as follows: When the inner tube is pressed into the outer 011e as far as it will go by pressure applied to the exposed end of the inner tube, by which pressure, also, the spring c is compressed, the lead-holding device d is, by reason of the connections between itand the tubes,

' made to swing out of the inner tube, or nearly out of it, dependingI upon the nicety i'u construction of the several parts. The lead can then be introduced into the hole in the point of the outer tube of the pencil, as seen at 7c. It then passes into the open end of the inner tube at Z l, and then passing thelead-holding device d it can slip into the inner tube till it strikes its closed end, and thus the lead, when allowed to slip entirely within the tubes, will be conipletely protected from liability to fracture. When, however, the pencil is to be used the pressureis withdrawn from the end of the inner tube while the lead is still somewhat projecting from the point of the pencil 7c. The spring c then immediately acts to throw theinner tube out of the end of the outer one, and by the action of the connections between the lead-hold ing device and the inner and outer tubes the part of the lead-holding device marked d is made to swing` in toward the center of the inside tube, and in its passage it comes in contact with thelead and prevents it from moving, not only by the resistance of the lead to the cutting action ot' the front edge ot' the device d d', and to the scratching action ot' the little teeth or roughnesses before mentioned, but also and prominently by the clamping or squeezingr effect to which I subject the lead between the clamping device cl d and the opposite side ofthe inner tubes, and the inorepressure there is applied to the point of thelead the more the holding device d d will squeeze the lead and hold it firmly; and I am careful, in proportioning my pencil, to have the relative sizes and degrees of motion of the parts such that I will secure this clamping eft'ect on the lead. It is to be noticed that the location of the contining-hole for the end of the L-shaped holder and the location of the pivotin the core ot' the pawl must be such that the holding device will be swung out ofthe inner tube when the tubes are. telescoped.

Instead of an inside tube there may be used a ring or short section ot a tube at the part where the holder d is situated, and the remainder ot' the tube be supplied by one, two, or more connecting-rods connecting the spring c and the holder d d'. rIhe spring may also be placed at some other point than at the end of the inner tube, and the outside tube may be not so long as the inside tube.

In conclusion, I state that I do not claim, broadly, a lead and crayon holder having a lead-grasping jaw or contrivanoe inside of and connected with the sheath extending into the interior ofthelongitudinally-movable lead-containing tube through an opening therein, so as t0 have Contact with the lead and operated b v the tube according to the direction of its movement to clamp and release the lead 5 nor do I claim, broadly, the combination of the foregoing instrumentalities with a pressurecap and a retractin g-sprin g.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isln a lead-pencil or similar utensil, a leadholding device pivoted to the inner tube and with an extending end which engages in adepression or other continngdeviceon the outer tube, the parts being so adjusted and located that when the tubes nre slid past one another the inner part ot' the lead-holding device will be thrown outwardly away from or inwardly toward the center ot' theinner tube, according as the tubes are slid on one another in one direction or the other, substantially as and for` the purposes set forth.

PHILLIPS ABBOTT.

Witnesses:

J. B. TIFFANY, FRANK SGHEUBEL. 

